Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles was a safety during his playing days and he made his bones as a coach as a defensive coordinator, but that doesn't mean he's looking at building up the defense in Tampa as the team's top draft priority.
During his media session at last week's team meetings, Bowles was asked about his preferred strategy for the team's six picks in the draft later this month. Bowles said his experience as a coach has shown him that adding players who score points takes precedence over bolstering his side of the ball.
"Being a defensive coach, I learn that you win by scoring points," Bowles said, via a transcript from the team. "I don't ever want to bypass a very good offensive player. I can figure things out enough on defense to keep us competitive. I would like to have some defensive players if that presented itself, but by no means will I bypass a very good offensive player just to satisfy my needs on defense. We can figure out how to keep the score down, but you can't figure out a way to keep scoring points, especially if your horses go down. You can never have enough horses on offense. But, yes, I'd like to add some pieces [on defense] if that's what you're asking me, but whether they come in the first or whether they come in the middle, remains to be seen."
Bowles added that he doesn't believe in passing on good players because the team already has good players at the same spot. Bowles said he thinks you "keep loading up and you kind of go from there." We'll find out in a couple of weeks what route the Bucs wind up taking.
